Fact Check: Obama Claims Miss Some Evidence
Friday, October 07, 2011
Fact Check: Obama Claims Miss Some Evidence
By: Jim Kuhnhenn, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - In challenging Republicans to get behind his jobs
bill Thursday, President Obama argued Republicans have supported
his proposals before, demanded that they explain themselves if they
oppose him, and challenged others to come up with a plan of their
own. The rhetoric in the president's quick-moving press conference
dodged some facts and left some evidence in the dust.
Obama: "If it turns out that there are
Republicans who are opposed to this bill, they need to explain to
me, but more importantly to their constituencies and the American
people, why they're opposed, and what would they do."
The facts: While Republicans might not be
campaigning on their opposition to Obama's plan, they've hardly
kept their objections a secret.
In a memorandum to House Republicans Sept. 16, House Speaker
John Boehner and members of the GOP leadership said they could find
common ground with Obama on the extension of certain business tax
breaks, waiving a payment withholding provision for federal
contractors, incentives for hiring veterans, and job training
measures in connection with unemployment insurance.
They objected to new spending on public works programs,
suggesting instead that Congress and the president work out those
priorities in a highway spending bill. And they raised concerns
about Obama's payroll tax cuts for workers and small businesses,
arguing that the benefits of a one-year tax cut would be
short-lived. The memo also pointed out that reducing payroll taxes,
which pay for Social Security, temporarily forces Social Security
to tap the government's general fund. And it opposed additional
spending to prevent layoffs of teachers, police officers and other
public workers.
Obama: "Every idea that we've put forward are
ones that traditionally have been supported by Democrats and
Republicans alike."
The facts: Obama proposes to pay for his jobs
bill by raising taxes, something traditionally opposed by
Republicans and, in the form Obama proposed it, even some
Democrats. Senate Democrats were so allergic to Obama's approach,
which relied largely on limiting deductions that can be taken by
individuals making over $200,000 a year and couples making more
than $250,000, that they're eliminating it and replacing it with a
new tax on millionaires.
In claiming bipartisan support for the components of his
proposal, the president appears to be referring just to what the
plan would do, not how it's paid for, but that's a crucial
distinction he doesn't make.
Some of tax-cutting proposals offered by Obama have received
significant Republican support in the past. But some of the new
spending he proposes has received only nominal Republican backing.
Evidence of bipartisanship provided by the White House includes
legislation last year that provided $10 billion to prevent teacher
layoffs. It won the support of only two Republican senators
-Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both of Maine and among the most
moderate Republicans in Congress. Another example cited by the
White House was proposal last year to offer tax breaks to
businesses that hire new workers - it passed the House 217-201 with
six Republican votes.
Obama: "The answer we're getting right now is:
Well, we're going to roll back all these Obama regulations. … Does
anybody really think that that is going to create jobs right now
and meet the challenges of a global economy?"
The facts: Well, yes, some think it will. The
U.S. Chamber of Commerce last month submitted a jobs proposal to
Obama that included a call to ease regulations on businesses. It
specifically called for streamlining environmental reviews on major
construction projects and to delay the issuance of some potentially
burdensome regulations until the economy and employment have
improved. In the letter, Chamber President Thomas Donohue also
called on Congress to pass legislation that would require
congressional approval of major regulations. The chamber did not
indicate how many jobs such regulatory changes could create, but it
said: "Immediate regulatory relief is required in order to begin
moving $1 trillion-$2 trillion in accumulated private capital off
of the sidelines and into business expansion."
Obama: "We can either keep taxes exactly as
they are for millionaires and billionaires, with loopholes that
lead them to have lower tax rates, in some cases, than plumbers and
teachers, or we can put teachers and construction workers and
veterans back on the job."
The facts: True, "in some cases" wealthy people
can exploit loopholes to make their tax rate lower than for people
of middle or low income. In recent rhetoric, Obama had suggested it
was commonplace for rich people to pay lower rates than others, a
claim not supported by IRS statistics. But on Thursday, Obama
accurately stated that it only happens sometimes.
In 2009, 1,470 households filed tax returns with incomes above
$1 million yet paid no federal income tax, according to the IRS.
Yet that was less than 1 percent of returns with incomes above $1
million. On average, taxpayers who made $1 million or more paid
24.4 percent of their income in federal income taxes; those making
$100,000 to $125,000 paid 9.9 percent; those making $50,000 to
$60,000 paid 6.3 percent. The White House argues that when payroll
taxes - paid only on the first $106,800 of wages - are factored in,
more middle class workers wind up with a higher tax rate than
millionaires.